ICP’s Child Care & Development Council Celebrates Provider Appreciation Day® May 7

OSWEGO – Integrated Community Planning of Oswego County, Inc will join community organizations across the country in observing Provider Appreciation Day to celebrate the efforts of local child care providers in what has been a year of tremendous challenge for child care.

“Child care providers were ‘essential’ long before the pandemic, and the past year has highlighted the lengths to which they are willing to go to keep their doors open, keep children safe and nurtured, support and engage families, and play a critical role in communities,” said Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., CEO of Child Care Aware® of America. “Provider Appreciation Day® is a great opportunity to recognize the heroic efforts of providers and to say ‘thank you.’”

Child care providers offered resources and supports to families during an often-traumatic time — a global pandemic and an economic crisis in addition to a national reckoning on race. They provided families with safe, healthy, nurturing spaces where children can feel safe, eat healthy meals, grow and learn. Additionally, providers often stepped in to support children in remote learning situations, doing all they could to provide space and supports for school-aged children.

While we know that child care has been brought to the forefront this year, Executive Director Christina Wilson reminds community members that “The dedication of Oswego County Child Care Providers hasn’t gone unnoticed. We remind our community that high quality care for children during the child’s first five years of brain development will help ensure future success and couldn’t be done without our child care providers.”

Provider Appreciation Day® is celebrated each year on the Friday before Mother’s Day and was started in 1996 by a group of volunteers in New Jersey who wanted to recognize the tireless efforts of providers who care for children of working parents. Support for this event has grown each year and it is now recognized by individuals and local governments throughout the U.S.

The Provider Appreciation Day® website, https://providerappreciation.org, includes:
· Ideas for celebration
· Resources, including a sample letter to request a proclamation from your local government officials, and templates to create certificates or thank you cards for providers
· Video tool for parents and community members to thank their local child care provider

Join in the virtual celebration on social media using #ThankYouChildCare in the days leading up to May 7, 2021.

The Child Care & Development Council of Oswego County, a division of ICP, registers and inspects child daycare programs, as well as offers training and technical assistance to help providers achieve and offer high quality care.

For more information about quality early childcare and learning, assistance finding child care services or to start a child care business in your home, you may contact the Child Care & Development Council of Oswego County at (315) 343-2344 or visit www.icpoc.org.

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